When someone mentions bottle rockets, do you envision placing a firecracker attached to a stick into a glass bottle and launching it?

Water rockets have been a source of entertainment and education for many years. They are usually made with an empty two-liter plastic soda bottle by adding water and pressurizing it with air for launching.

Soft drink (soda) companies began using plastic bottles in 1970. The Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) material used in most plastic soda bottles today was introduced in 1973.

Water rockets are used in schools to help students understand the principles of aeronautics. The Science Olympiads provide challenges of bottle rocket design and flight, including altitudes and distances reached. Many interesting designs and additional information on bottle rockets can be found with a simple Web search.

"Two-Liter Pop Bottle Rockets may well be the GREATEST PHYSICAL SCIENCE TEACHING TOOL EVER CREATED!!" students can manipulate and control variables, see their hypotheses verified or refuted, and graph their findings. Older students experience the nature of science at its best. They can document their abilities with the following concepts: inertia, gravity, air resistance, Newton's laws of motion, acceleration, relationships between work and energy or impulse and momentum, projectile motion, freefall calculations, internal and external ballistics, and the practice of true engineering.

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Build a basic water rocket

A very basic water rocket for you to build.

Threaded Joiner

Basic Rocket with Parachute

Build a water rocket with a parachute to get it safely down.

Rocket Fin Designs

Advanced Water Rocket

Build a advanced rocket with a speed flap to release a parachute

Fullbore T-Nozzle

Make bigger water rockets with this bottle joiner based on the Robinson coupling.

Get some ideas for rocket fins with this PDF.

Make the burn time last longer and your rockets fly higher with this T-Nozzle idea.

Building A Basic Rocket

One of our useful guides to building a basic water rocket with things around the house.

Swing Test Your Rocket

The helpful PDF file get you going in the right direction by showing you how to make a stable rocket.

Basic Rocket With Parachute

Another useful guide to helping you build better designed water rockets with a parachute.

Water Rocket Recovery

Auto Release Info

Water Rocket Speed Flap

Help with understanding how to get your water rockets safely down with this useful index.

Automatic parachute release for your water rockets made from disposable cameras .

Fixed Base Multi Angle Launcher

Click image above for the information pack about the Fullbore Fixed Base Water Rocket Launcher

Straight Rocket Launcher

Click image above for the information pack about the Fullbore Straight Water Rocket Launcher

Try out this speed flap idea to release your parachutes when the rocket is high in the air.

Straight Post Rocket Launcher

Click image above for the information pack about the Fullbore Straight Post Water Rocket Launcher

Second Stage Release Information

Click image above for the information pack about the Second Stage Release.